spring turkey permit cuts

[Lee Borgersen]

DNR changes stance, cuts number of spring turkey permits.


WISCONSIN:

March 13,2014
 
The Department of Natural Resources will reduce the number of spring turkey permits available to hunters in four management zones, the agency announced Thursday.

  ...
The reductions will be made through the "leftover" permits available for sale starting Monday. The department will not issue leftover permits in zones 6 and 7 and will cut by 25% the number available in zones 4 and 5.

The decision comes in response to an unspecified number of "concerns" from hunters about the effect of the harsh winter on the state's turkeys.

It also reverses a science-based stance the agency's wildlife managers had maintained in recent weeks. Scott Walter, DNR upland ecologist, had said repeatedly the spring gobbler hunt has little to no biological impact on the population.

That's a fact - a single male turkey can mate with multiple females. And males have no role in protecting the nest or rearing the offspring.

"Some hunters understandably have suggested reducing harvest during the upcoming spring and fall to help turkeys recover," Walter said in a DNR press release Tuesday. "Reducing permit levels, however, would greatly reduce hunter opportunity while doing little to help turkey populations."

But something changed in recent days.

And it wasn't the science.

I've placed calls to Walter and other DNR staff, as well as National Wild Turkey Federation members for comment on the change.

A press release issued Thursday included the following quote from Walter: "Wild turkeys were successfully reintroduced to Wisconsin through a broad partnership that was based on exactly the kind of interest and commitment being expressed by our hunters, and their successful management will continue to incorporate input from the engaged hunters who care about our turkey resource."

The change will result in 426 fewer permits in zones 6 and 7, about 3,400 fewer in zone 4 and 866 fewer in zone 5.

Permit levels in zones 1, 2 and 3 are unchanged.

"Hunters can expect that the number of turkeys they see, and their success, will vary from year-to-year in response to recent spring and winter weather conditions," Walter said. "Reducing permit levels will certainly keep a few more birds on the landscape this spring, but good production in coming springs will be the trigger that gets turkeys back on track in the north."

Leftover spring turkey permits go on sale beginning Monday, March 17. The sale dates are: zone 1 on Monday; zone 2 Tuesday; zone 3 Wednesday; zone 4 Thursday; and zone 5 Friday. All remaining permits in all zones will then be available starting Saturday, March 22.